Hello families and friends of Dufferin Care Centre,

We were notified on November 30^th, that a staff member had tested positive for COVID-19. The staff member last worked on November 24, 2020, and is currently at home in isolation. The employee was wearing PPE at all times when working with and around the residents while working their shift on the first floor.

We have spoken with Public Health as well as the Medical Health Officer and they have deemed us at low risk and therefore are not placing us on outbreak. They will however be monitoring our site for a 14 day period from the last exposure.

We are performing a contact mapping exercise to identify any staff or residents that may have been in contact with the COVID-19 positive individual. Residents on the first floor have been placed on droplet precautions and all residents on that floor as well as staff, are in the process of being swabbed. Families of these individuals will be receiving a phone call to inform them of their loved ones status.  At this time there are no residents or staff experiencing any COVID -19 related symptoms.

As we communicated to you yesterday, we have begun to implement our COVID-19 outbreak protocols. This includes a thorough deep cleaning of all areas, isolating the first floor under droplet precautions , heightened monitoring of all residents and staff for any deviation of their regular health and immediate swabbing of any residents or staff that are symptomatic. Staff will function as cohorts on specific floors, and not on a facility-wide basis. Residents on the first floor will be receiving room service for their meals.

If your loved one is deemed symptomatic or tests positive, please know you will be contacted directly by phone.

The care and safety of residents is our number one priority, and we are treating the situation very seriously.

Until further notice, In-Person and Window visits are cancelled as staff work to ensure all isolated residents are monitored and cared for fully. All group activities have been paused. We will still be offering Facetime visits for those on 2^nd floor and our 1^st floor A/B neighborhoods at this time.

Communication

As a result of the one confirmed case of COVID-19, we will provide families with a daily email update that will also be posted under community updates on our website. We will phone those who do not have emails. Should the condition of any resident change, their family will be notified immediately.

Facetime, zoom and window visits have been halted temporarily while staff work to ensure all residents are monitored and cared for thru isolation.

Protocols

Appropriate health authorities have been notified and we are following protocols established by our COVID emergency response team, our Governing Health Authority, the Office of the Provincial Health Officer and BC Center for Disease Control.

We will continue to act upon their latest advice, and will adapt our operations as necessary and recommended.

Deliveries

All deliveries will be received at the lobby entrance vestibule. This includes medication deliveries from pharmacies,  other gifts and mail. All items will be held in isolation for 24 hours, sanitized and delivered directly to the residents’ suite.

When dropping items off, we would ask that families please follow the following guidelines to ensure loved ones will receive their deliveries in a timely manner:

1. Please use plastic bags, not reusable bags;
2. Please label all bags with the resident’s name and suite number;
3. In consideration of staff-to-resident priorities as well as infection control, please try to limit drop offs to essential items; and.
4. If possible, please sanitize the items before dropping off. We will re-sanitize as well to be safe.

We wish to thank families and loved ones in advance for their anticipated patience and cooperation.

Any questions or concerns please contact Melissa Palana at mpalana@retirementconcepts.com or 604-472-4153.